Police to investigate photo of dead alleged cop killer

The Seattle Police and Fire departments are investigating who took an unauthorized photo of alleged cop killer Maurice Clemmons after he was fatally shot by a Seattle police officer and shared it with others, including the media.

The photo, possibly taken with a cell phone camera, reportedly shows Clemmons in an ambulance just after he’d been shot by a Seattle police officer who encountered him in the Rainier Valley early Wednesday after stopping to investigate a stolen car.

At least one local television station received the photo, police said.

The Seattle Police Department released a statement Wednesday saying: “The Seattle Police Department, Seattle Fire Department and the King County Medical Examiner’s Office have been made aware of an image circulating of deceased suspect Maurice Clemmons.”

“All three agencies have launched their own internal investigations to determine the origin of the image in question,” the statement said.

Both agencies are investigating whether a police officer or medic may have taken the photo, according to a Seattle police spokesman.

“That this photo may have been passed around as some kind of joke is in incredibly poor taste and not really our mission,” Seattle police Sgt. Sean Whitcomb said.

On Sunday, Clemmons gunned down four Lakewood police officers as they sat in a coffee shop before their shift. A tense two-day manhunt led police to several locations where they suspected he was hiding. A Seattle police officer confronted Clemmons after seeing the car parked in the 4400 block of South Kenyon Street with the hood up and engine running. Clemmons disobeyed the officer’s commands to stop and appeared to be reaching for his waistband, according to police.